Strays
by pinksnail
Summary: Mako is on a dog hunt to recover the Mankanshoku's family pet, Guts. Gamagoori joins her for the search and along the way a past of hardships is revealed.


**~Strays~**

**Chapter 1: The Search ****Begins**

* * *

"Sukuyo, you're in charge of laying out a trail of croquettes as a lure!"

"Understood!" Sukuyo nodded determinedly at her husband, a huge basket of the disgusting-looking but surprisingly tasty croquettes in hand.

"Mataro! You are to check all of his favourite spots!

The boy saluted his father. "Yes sir!"

"Ryuko, use Senketsu to take to the air for an aerial vantage point. If you find any leads tell me straight away!"

"Of course." She said.

"Mako, I'm entrusting these posters to you. I had to sell a lot of your brother's blood to get these printed. Use them wisely."

"I will try my best!"

"Wha- Dad! You took my blood?" The young thief was ignored as his father continued.

"And as for me, I will travel around town on the scooter! Reconcile back here in the evening if we have not found him." And with the same vigour of a military commander, Mankanshoku Barazo stood to attention and ordered, "Now, move out!"

The Mankanshoku family (with the addition of Ryuko) pumped their fists into the air letting out a heated war cry before flooding out of their house's front door and sprinting off in opposite directions. Ryuko had already synchronised with Senketsu and was about to take off before she noticed Mako was hanging back, staring blankly down at the stack of papers in her hands.

"Mako?" She called, her brows knitted together in worry. She hadn't seen her friend behave like this before.

The girl's head snapped upwards. "Hm?" She blinked her eyes and then haze was gone from her brown irises. She looked like her normal self again. "What is it?"

"Ah... I just thought-" Ryuko began but then stopped herself. She shook her head. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Just worry about finding Guts or we'll never find that sneaky Pug. I bet he's off devouring some stolen steak while we speak."

Mako placed her hand upon her hips and declared with a grin spread across her face. "Yeah! You can count on me. I'll find him for sure!"

Ryuko smiled softly at her friend before launching herself into the sky. Mako watched her soar through the blue expanse above, leaving a pink trail of light in her wake. Her eyes followed the girl and the Kamui who shrank into the distance as they travelled further away, until they had vanished completely. Mako's smile faded and transformed into a troubled frown.

She went back to staring at the missing posters again. Her dog's face gazed back at her, a pair of her father's underwear clutched in his mouth. Her mother sat next to her and guts, smiling happily as she always did. And in the corner of the picture you could just about see, he father stumbling into the shot, naked as the day he was born. Fortunately Gut's ear obscured his unmentionables from view.

Mako could still remember that day. It had been a few months before Ryuko had started living with them. Her brother had tumbled in through the bedroom window holding aloft a dirty camera. It had been so broken and grimy she hadn't been quite sure if Mataro had stolen it or found it in a garbage dump.

It was one of those old fashioned ones where you had to develop the pictures yourself. Or at least that's what her father told her as he had begun to tinker with it. He sat in the same spot all day, in only his underwear, playing with the broken camera. He was so engrossed with the device that he never stopped fiddling with it until he had fixed it.

From the moment he had declared it to be functioning, Mataro took the opportunity to sneak up behind their father and take the camera back. Her dad had been about to make chase for it but Guts had latched himself onto his greying underwear and ripped them straight off. Mako could only assume they had been working in cahoots. It didn't bother her though; it had turned out to be incredibly hilarious for the whole family. Well, apart from her father.

Mako pulled herself away from those warm memories by patting her face rather harshly. "Come on Mako!" She encouraged herself. "Pull it together! You have a dog to find! Go, go, Mako! Go, go, Mako!"

She cheered loudly and sped down the street towards the tram that led to her school.

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**I really need to stop posting new stories. Oh well. Its Kill la Kill. How can I not?**

**So basically this story is gonna revolve around the Gamako shipping but it will also have a bit of a back-story for Guts and the Mankanshoku family. Yay!**

**I've heard a rumor going around about a certain prediction for Mako to die in episode 21... I REALLY DON'T WANT IT TO HAPPEN! Mako is such a great character and I still have yet to see this shipping fulfilled in cannon which it looks like it might. Maybe... Pleeeeaaaaseeeeee!**


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